


Cruise

by reddiegays



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Comedy, Cruise Ships, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flirting, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, eddie wears richie's shirt and richie's like wow fuck me right now please, richie is super gay for eddie and he's totally into it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23101018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddiegays/pseuds/reddiegays
Summary: Eddie decides to go on a singles cruise around the Caribbean. Richie is also on board and tries to seduce him, despite the two getting off on the wrong foot.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak
Comments: 10
Kudos: 122





	Cruise

This was clearly the worst idea Eddie had ever had. He was fresh out of a marriage (and the closet), lonely, middle-aged and depressed so why he had booked a week long singles cruise around the Caribbean, he didn’t fucking know. He was mad! No guy on God’s green Earth would want him. This was going to end horrifically but he was in it now and there was no turning back.

He’d packed like he was moving house, mostly out of habit. Toiletries, clothes, spare clothes, more toiletries, medicines, bug sprays and anything that he could fit in. Eddie checked and double checked his luggage, bending over to zip up his bags. That was when he felt something smack into the back of his legs before ice cold liquid poured over his back. He leapt upright with a yelp, turning to assaulter in anger.

“What the fuck, asshole?”

“Whoa, shit, sorry, dude,” the not-cute-at-all guy fiddled nervously with his large glasses, an awkward grin on his face as he ruffled his messy hair, “I didn’t see you there.”

Eddie glanced around. It wasn’t as though he was stood directly in the middle of the walkway; he’d moved off to the side to check his baggage. He peered over his shoulder, turning around on the spot to examine the iced coffee stain spread across his white t-shirt.

“What the fuck is the matter with you? Do you have any idea how long this is going to take to clean?” He snapped, pointing aggressively at the taller man, “not to mention whatever germs you’ve just spread!”

“I’ll pay for it,” the man was saying as he stared directly at Eddie’s back, especially as he stretched to assess the damage; he tore his gaze away to hurriedly rummage in his bag, removing a hideous green Hawaiian shirt, “um, you can borrow this until you can change.”

Eddie snatched the shirt and threw it over his shoulders, trying not to look directly into the man’s rather stunning eyes, “fine. Where can I return it to you?” When the man didn’t say anything, Eddie was forced to look at him. He wore a dopey expression, staring open mouthed at him that made the shorter man feel quite insecure; he glanced down at himself, “what?”

The guy blinked once and just blurted out, rather breathlessly, “wow, dude, like...father my children.”

It took all of Eddie’s willpower for him not to blush; he gathered his belongings and hurried towards the ship, not bothering to get the man’s details. With any luck, he wouldn’t see him for the rest of the cruise.

* * *

He wasn’t thinking about the strangely hot weirdo from earlier. He refused. No, he was going to shower, change into something smart, grab a bite to eat and wander the ship before attending the ship’s comedy night. Eddie wasn’t a huge fan of comedy but he was willing to try if it meant he’d meet his soulmate. Statistically, the chances his soulmate would be here and now and the same as him were near impossible. Eddie groaned, looking himself over in the mirror; he’d picked out his favourite pale blue shirt, the first few buttons undone and a pair of knee-length shorts. Casual, not trying to hard. Fine.

When Eddie arrived at the ship’s event room, he immediately felt overwhelmed and fought the urge to flee; the organisers had arranged colour-coded stickers for passengers to wear, indicating what it was they were looking for. Blue for those seeking men, red for people seeking women, yellow for those interested in either and green for those who just wanted company. Those without a sticker were quite happy on their own and had the option to change their mind if they wished. Eddie scanned the stickers, automatically reaching for the red sticker before he stopped himself; he looked around, checking that he was alone before quickly swiping a blue sticker.

He hid himself away at the bar, beginning to regret every decision that led him here; several guys had approached him and deemed him not worth the effort after he’d mentioned his divorce. The cheery music they were playing before the comedy started only made things worse and Eddie almost left until a lovely guy named Tony started chatting him up. He, too, was divorced and had a daughter. As they chatted, they found they had similar interests in music, sport and they even lived in the same state. For the first time, Eddie didn’t think about the hot guy whose shirt was still in his cabin. That didn’t last long, however.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Richie Tozier!”

The audience applauded enthusiastically and Tony led Eddie towards a booth, pulling out his seat for him. Before Eddie could make a comment about it, he’d caught sight of the comedian on stage and his jaw dropped. Of course it was the man he couldn’t get off of his mind. He tried not to pay him attention, focusing on Tony’s warm gaze. Richie, the bastard, didn’t make it easy for him.

“Okay, well, before we get started I wanna tell you guys something that happened to me this morning,” Eddie went white, sipping his beer in what he hoped was a casual manner. Was he sweating? Why was he sweating? “So, I was just about to board the boat and I noticed this, like, unbelievably hot guy. I was psyching myself up to shoot my shot, right, then I tripped. And spilled my iced latte all over him,” he paused to absorb the laughter and Eddie wanted to die; he wanted to be mad at Richie for making him the butt of the joke but his heart had skipped a beat when the comedian called him hot, “he’s yelling at me, I’m staring at his fit back like I’m in some sort of gay trance...”

“What an idiot,” Tony murmured into his ear, chuckling into his glass of wine. Eddie was too busy trying to listen to answer him.

“...and you know what I said to him?” _Please don’t tell them_ , Eddie begged in his mind, glancing around his fellow singles; some were paired and chatting quietly as they enjoyed the comedy, others were happily alone. Eddie focused back on the stage, hoping he wasn’t blushing, “‘father my children’. I haven’t seen him since so work out how that one went down.”

The crowd laughed and Richie went straight into his routine, unaware the subject of his first story was glaring at him. Poor Tony’s attempts at conversation went un-reciprocated as Eddie focused on Richie - he hated to admit it, but the man had amazing stage presence and knew how to captivate an audience. He told way too many dick jokes that were far too much information for Eddie. He was probably lying anyway. He’d been so caught up in watching Richie, he hadn’t noticed the man pause and was now looking directly at him. He broke into a wide grin and waved enthusiastically.

“Hey, coffee guy!”

Eddie flushed tomato red, debating jumping ship, “oh, fuck me.”

“Hold up a minute,” he gestured to someone behind the curtain and, suddenly, he was writing on a scrap of paper. Richie carelessly leapt down from the stage and handed Eddie the paper, covering the microphone as he spoke to him, “my cabin number if you want to return the shirt.”

He winked and returned to the stage, carrying on his routine as if nothing had happened. Eddie tried not to think too much about it. He liked Tony but he wasn’t Richie. He barely knew the dumbass comedian but he made his heart jump, his brain mush and butterflies erupt in his stomach. Thankfully, Tony understood and wished him the best of luck, promising to stay in touch.

Eddie returned to his cabin and grabbed the shirt and resisted the temptation to run towards Richie’s cabin; it was quite a distance from Eddie’s and by the time he reached it, he was more than a little nervous. He was tempted to leave it hanging on the door handle. Richie had made it clear he was interested in Eddie and had tried to ask him out that fateful day they’d met. He bit the bullet and knocked. It was answered barely a moment later and Richie beamed.

“Well, well, well, Mr. coffee guy.”

Eddie all but threw the shirt at him and folded his arms defensively, “did you really have to tell all those people that fucking story?”

Richie raised an eyebrow, leaning against the door frame, “what, your little boyfriend didn’t like it?”

“I just met him tonight,” Eddie clarified, suddenly realising what he just said, “not that it’s any of your business.” 

"You better get used to hearing that story ‘cause our kids are gonna know it by heart,” he was confident and it was one hell of a turn on for Eddie. He bit back a smile and Richie leaned closer, smirking, “‘cause I like you a latte. Geddit?”

“Shut up, Richie,” he smiled, leaning in for a soft kiss, a kiss that was the beginning of the rest of their lives.


End file.
